Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Thirty teachers from around the state are graduates of a recent workshop at Mississippi State designed to help them better prepare students for the study of computational sciences and biotechnology.
Organized by the university-based Mississippi Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the continuing education program was funded by the National Science Foundation. The Mississippi Research Consortium and BioRad Laboratories of Hercules, Calif., were co-sponsors.
The science, mathematics and technology educators in grades 8-12, as well as at two- and four-year institutions of higher learning, were introduced to emerging research fields in computational sciences and biotechnologies. The activities included both hands-on experiences and inquiry-based and laboratory instruction.
Upon completion of the training, each participant received research-based curriculum materials for classroom use developed through MS-EPSCoR and the National Institute of Health's Human Genome Project.
In addition to MSU, the state research consortium includes Jackson State University and the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi.
The 2008 workshop graduates include (listed by hometowns):
Baldwyn--stephen A. St. Clair of Thrasher High School.
Brandon--Elaine Bridges of Pearl High School.
Charleston--Dipti Singh of Charleston High School.
Clarksdale--Tionanatasha Newell of Coahoma County Senior High School.
Ethel--Shelia Rone of Ethel High School.
Gulfport--Bridgette L. Davis of the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, and Jeanelle Hardwick of Biloxi High School.
Hattiesburg--Diana Crutchfield of North Forest High School.
Jackson--Consuella A. Davis of Jackson State University.
Little Rock--William G. Alexander of Union High School.
Long Beach--Kelly Sprague of the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.
McComb--Gail Knox of South Pike High School.
Meridian--Valerie S. Bishop of Meridian Community College.
Moss Point--Angela Joy Duncan of Pascagoula High School.
MT. Olive--Shelly M. Freeman of Mize Attendance Center and Amy Sullivan of Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
Ocean Springs--Christy Philipp of St. Martin High School.
Petal--Parker Nelson of the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
Philadelphia--Patrick Cook of South Leake County High School.
Purvis--Allison Downing of Forrest County Agricultural High School.
Raleigh--Lisa H. Headrick of Jones County Junior College.
Seminary--Cherie Humphrey of Seminary High School.
Shaw--Mary A. Newsome of East Side High School in Cleveland.
Starkville--China Taylor of East Lowndes County High School.
Vancleave--Lynn Zimmerman of St. Martin High School.
Wesson--Wendy Cawthorn of Crystal Springs High School.
West POINT--Ashley S. McGhee of Caledonia High School.
Woodland--Mary Davidson of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus.
Woodville--Ezella Bethley of the Wilkinson County School District.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.